Other Views
Various Buddhist schools use the statue of Shakyamuni Buddha and other statues as Objects of Devotion. Even within some Nichiren schools, statues are used with the Gohonzon. However, all Buddhist schools based on the Lotus Sutra agree that the Object of Devotion is the Eternal Buddha of the Lotus Sutra. Interpretations of the identity of this Eternal Buddha vary between schools, and most accept that it is simply Shakyamuni Buddha, though Nichiren Shōshū claims it to be Nichiren and SGI view it as the inherent Buddha nature. In his writings, Nichiren explained that the Eternal Buddha appeared together with the Bodhisattvas and the Treasure Tower, and that the Object of Devotion should include all, and not only Shakyamuni Buddha, as he inscribed in the Gohonzon.
Read more about this topic: Gohonzon
Famous quotes containing the word views:
“It is surely a matter of common observation that a man who knows no one thing intimately has no views worth hearing on things in general. The farmer philosophizes in terms of crops, soils, markets, and implements, the mechanic generalizes his experiences of wood and iron, the seaman reaches similar conclusions by his own special road; and if the scholar keeps pace with these it must be by an equally virile productivity.”
—Charles Horton Cooley (1864–1929)
“Meek young men grow up in libraries, believing it their duty to accept the views which Cicero, which Locke, which Bacon, have given, forgetful that Cicero, Locke, and Bacon were only young men in libraries, when they wrote these books. Hence, instead of Man Thinking, we have the book-worm.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)